A Very Bujeet Christmas
by hpsavvy
Summary: Phineas, Ferb, and the gang are in high school, and not much has changed. Phineas still invents crazy contraptions, Isabella says, "Whatcha doin?" and Buford still bullies Baljeet. Could there be some other motivation behind Buford's attentions? Baljeet will find out during this festive winter break tale.
1. Chapter 1

p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chapter One/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, freedom at last," Phineas sighed, stretching both arms over his head as he exited the classroom./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I do not know what you are talking about," Baljeet replied. "I can't believe Mrs. Romanov didn't give us a single piece of homework to do over the break." /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, no calculus for two and a half weeks," Phineas smirked. "However will you survive?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ferb met them in the hallway, which was rapidly becoming crowded as students flooded from their classrooms after the last period of fall semester. The green-haired boy's eyes were faintly bloodshot, and he seemed uncharacteristically shaken./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What's up, Ferb?" Phineas asked his stepbrother, raising his voice to be heard over the din of laughter and slamming lockers. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""English exam," Ferb responded succinctly./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, yeah, I took that one yesterday," Phineas said, looking sympathetic. "I thought my hand was going to fall off, that's how bad my writer's cramp was. Can't beat those essay exams."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Abruptly, Baljeet realized he was still carrying all his textbooks. "Hey, I need to drop some stuff off at my locker," he said. "I'll meet up with you later, all right?" The brothers waved and Baljeet began to weave his way through the crowd, feeling like a fish swimming upstream. When he emerged into the deserted third floor hall, he breathed a sigh of relief and began twirling the dial to open his locker./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Trying to sneak off without me?" a voice growled in Baljeet's ear, so close the speaker's breath fluttered hotly over his neck and cheek. He jumped, books tumbling from his arms./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Darn you, Buford," Baljeet snapped, spinning around to shove the larger boy out of his personal space. "Why are you still here? I thought you had seventh period free."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I do. I stuck around because I thought you might want a ride home. Have you even looked outside? It has to have snowed six inches in the past hour."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet eyed the other boy cautiously. Likely this was a ploy to get him alone so Buford could dump him in a snowdrift or something, though he had to admit it was a bit more complex than most of the bully's schemes. To give himself time to think of an excuse, he bent over and started retrieving his books from the floor./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I was supposed to get a ride with Phineas and Ferb," he replied finally, placing the last textbook on the proper shelf./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford narrowed his eyes. "In that stupid British sports car? I don't think so, nerd. Call Phineas and tell him you'll see him tomorrow."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Since when do you get to order me around?" Baljeet asked, miffed. "Besides, I know you love that car!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Not when there's a foot of snow on the ground," Buford replied at once, having anticipated this line of reasoning. "The truck's got new snow tires. Much safer."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet sighed and began stuffing his strangely empty backpack with notes he wanted to review before the new semester started. "Fine," he conceded, rolling his eyes. "But you will have to call Phineas yourself. My phone died at lunch."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford smirked in triumph and fished in his pocket for the phone. Even after all these years, it never failed to amuse him that Baljeet couldn't win a single one of their arguments, never mind the fact that he was supposedly some kind of genius. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Phineas was number five on Baljeet's speed dial, and he punched the button and waited impatiently while the phone rang. "Hey, Buford," came Phineas's cheery voice. "What's up?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm driving Baljeet home," Buford replied without preamble. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"There was a brief pause during which muffled voices came through the speaker, then Phineas said, "Ferb says to tell you 'nicely done,' whatever that means. You're still coming over tomorrow, right?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sure," Buford answered absently, watching Baljeet attempt to stuff an orange notebook into his bulging satchel. "Bye."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Can you carry some of this stuff?" Baljeet asked, looking over and seeing that Buford had ended the call. "I can't fit it all, and there's no way I'm leaving either my history notes or my physics notes behind. That would be a disaster."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Since when do I carry your books?/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Buford wondered, unconsciously echoing Baljeet's earlier words. Still, he accepted the surprisingly hefty stack of notebooks Baljeet unloaded into his arms without complaint. He could always drop them in the snow by "accident" once they were outside./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Jeez, I wouldn't have waited for you if I knew you were planning to spend the entire break deciding what to take home," Buford grumbled, earning a glare from the other boy./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I did not /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"ask/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" you to coerce me into accepting your offer of a ride home," Baljeet said prissily. Buford fell silent, probably trying to sort that sentence out, and Baljeet shouldered past him, slamming the locker closed as he went./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford hadn't been kidding about the snow, Baljeet saw. When they pushed through the big glass doors at the front of the school, they nearly ran into a janitor who was shoveling the steps and sprinkling them with salt. Sadly, he hadn't gotten to the stairs that led to the senior parking lot yet, and Baljeet was forced to endure several minutes of Buford's laughter as he slipped and slid down the snowy staircase. Buford, in his heavy boots, seemed to have no trouble at all./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hang on, let me get the door," Buford said when they reached the old rusty-red Ford pickup. "It's been sticking lately, and it gets worse in cold weather. Haven't had a chance to figure out what's wrong with it yet." He turned his key in the lock and heaved upward on the handle. The door opened with a creak and a groan, and Baljeet stepped hurriedly out of the way in case it decided to fall off its hinges just to spite him./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After a last wary look, Baljeet clambered into the truck, stuffing his satchel onto the floor beside his feet. Buford slammed the door with a force that shook the whole vehicle and walked around to the driver's seat. When he turned the key in the ignition, the engine turned over a few times before coughing reluctantly to life. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As they pulled out of the parking lot, an awkward silence fell. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Buford – " Baljeet began./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So, nerd – " Buford said, then broke off as he realized they'd both spoken at once./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet laughed. "You go first," he said./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I was going to ask what you were doing for Christmas," Buford finished./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""My family is Hindi!" Baljeet informed him. "How long have we known each other? Ten years? Eleven? Your brain must be even smaller than I suspected!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford struggled to contain his smile. He loved getting a rise out of Baljeet, and loved even more that he antagonized the Indian boy better than anyone else because he knew just which buttons to push. "Yeah, I think you might've mentioned that," Buford said nonchalantly. "But you like Christmas decorations and I've seen you exchange presents with Phineas and Ferb in the past, so I though you celebrated at least a little."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As quickly as it had flared up, Baljeet's anger faded. "Um," he said softly, "Are you mad that I didn't give you a present, too? I would have, it's just that I wasn't sure what you would like, and then I wasn't sure if you wanted me to give you something, and…" He trailed off, fastening his gaze on his hands./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford gave him an inscrutable look. "Don't overthink it," he said. "You're my nerd. You don't give me presents; that's not how it works." And he focused his attention on the road, effectively preventing any further discussion of the subject./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Then how /spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"does/spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;" it work? /spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Baljeet wondered, watching from his porch as Buford's truck turned out of the driveway, leaving tread marks in the fresh snow./span/p 


	2. Chapter 2

p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chapter Two/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When Baljeet arrived at the Flynn-Fletcher house the next afternoon, his first thought was that everything smelled delicious. Isabella wandered out of the kitchen, catching sight of Baljeet as she looked up from her cell phone./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, good, you're here," she called, crossing the room to help him with his coat. "Phineas and Ferb had the brilliant idea to build a cooking-making machine, only they couldn't figure out how to make the machine decorate the cookies, so now we've got about a thousand little bells and candy canes to frost." The words were mocking, but her tone was fond. Baljeet wondered if this would be the year Phineas finally got the message that Isabella wanted more than friendship./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"True to Isabella's description, every surface in the kitchen was covered with stacks of sugar cookies in assorted festive shapes. A harassed-looking Ferb was mixing colored icing while Phineas danced around the counter, singing 'Jingle Bells' at the top of his lungs./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""See, this is why I made a break for it," Isabella told Baljeet under her breath. "I'm pretty sure Ferb's going to snap and drown his brother in frosting in about two minutes. Maybe you can restore some semblance of order here." With that hopeful plea, Isabella spun on her heel and strode back into the living room, dialing a number on her phone as she went./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, Baljeet, glad you could make it," Phineas said, cutting himself off mid-song. Behind him, Ferb visibly relaxed, and Baljeet chuckled. "We made cookies! Would you like to help us decorate them? We promised Mom we wouldn't leave the kitchen in a mess, and I have a feeling this qualifies."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Indubitably," Ferb agreed, arching an eyebrow pointedly at his stepbrother's back./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Of course!" Baljeet replied. "You realize that even with four of us, this might take all night, though," he added, turning in a circle to appraise the confectionary mountain./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Five," Phineas corrected, picking up a big star-shaped cookie and biting off one of the points./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Pardon?" Baljeet asked./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Buford will be here in a minute," Phineas finished, having finished chewing a few moments later. "And actually, Isabella said she was going to call Adyson and Ginger, so there might be /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"some/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" hope of us getting out of here before midnight."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet elected not to reply, instead following the red-haired boy's example and stuffing a cookie into his mouth. /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Of course/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" they'd invited Buford, why wouldn't they? They always invited Buford. Baljeet took a deep breath to get his nerves under control, which was a mistake considering that his mouth was full of cookie crumbs. While he tried to stop his violent cough, the doorbell rang and Ferb went to answer it, looking relieved to escape the chaos for a minute./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When he returned, Buford was at his side, dressed in his usual brown cargo pants and black skull t-shirt. He'd removed his boots at the door, and Baljeet smiled when he saw that the bully was wearing striped red-and-green socks festooned with tiny snowmen./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What're you looking at?" Buford growled, catching Baljeet's amused smile./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Nothing," Baljeet replied airily, taking a second bite of his cookie to keep from laughing outright./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford crossed the room and came to stand in front of Baljeet, bracing himself with one hand on the counter on either side of the smaller boy. "You'd better watch your step," he said softly. "This place is a bully's playground. How do you feel about taking a bath in frosting? I think the idea has potential."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With Buford this close, Baljeet couldn't help but inhale the other boy's scent, a distinctive combination of minty shampoo and leather from the jacket he'd recently removed. His eyes fluttered shut involuntarily and his pulse began to race. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When he managed to pry his eyelids open, Buford's face was inches from his own. Baljeet hurriedly stuffed the remainder of his cookie into Buford's mouth and ducked under his arm, taking up a safer position between Ferb and a giant stack of cookies. He risked a surreptitious glance at Buford, but Buford was facing the door, with his back to the others./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Had that really just happened? Baljeet wondered. None of their friends looked as shell-shocked as Baljeet felt, but then, why would they? They hadn't experienced the rush of terror and exhilaration that had come with such unexpected proximity to Buford. Baljeet swallowed hard, twice, thankful that his dark skin hid his blush./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"On the other side of the crowded kitchen, Buford took a series of deep breaths, waiting for his arousal to subside before he rejoined the others. He wasn't completely sure what had just happened, but knew he hadn't been this turned on (short of actual sex) since the time Wendy Higgins wore that tiny white sundress to school./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"In the end, it was the ridiculousness of the situation that worked in Buford's favor. Here he was, in the kitchen where he'd been eating snacks since he was a kid, surrounded by Christmas cookies, and he had an incurable boner. Which had been caused by a scrawny little nerd, but Buford wasn't quite ready to deal with that part yet. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He returned to the others around the table and accepted a paintbrush from Phineas, who was still bouncing off the walls. Someone needed to limit that kid's sugar intake, pronto. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"And how was he supposed to decorate cookies with a paintbrush, anyway? The instrument seemed too small to ice the entire cookie, but too large to manage any detailed work. Buford looked to his left, seeking inspiration. That was his first mistake./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet sat cross-legged on his chair, his attention totally focused on the perfect sleigh he was embellishing with little dots of yellow icing. /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Of course/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Baljeet decorated cookies with the same perfectionism he applied to everything else. Buford didn't know why he was surprised. He turned back to his own task and managed to produce a candy cane that resembled the poop of a very sick dog. Well, it wasn't his fault the red had mixed with the green to produce such an unfortunate shade of mottled grayish-brown./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Several minutes later, Isabella entered the kitchen, followed by two other former Fireside girls whose names Buford could never remember. "Hey, where's Perry?" Isabella asked, looking around the room in puzzlement./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We thought he was in the living room with you!" Phineas replied. "Oh, well. He'll turn up. He always does."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The new arrivals took seats between Phineas and Baljeet, and the girls promptly began exchanging gossip from school with the occasional contribution from Phineas. Buford tuned them out and continued decorating, managing to produce a fairly respectable reindeer. He sneaked a look at Baljeet, who was putting the finishing touches on a cookie shaped like a present with a big blue bow./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Buford, could you please pass me the – Hey!" Baljeet's request broke off into an indignant shout as the bully snatched the just-finished cookie from the table and shoved the entire thing into his mouth./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Delicious," Buford said through a mouthful of crumbs. Baljeet made a disgusted face and brushed damp cookie fragments from his lap. "Now, what did you want me to get for you?" Buford asked innocently./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The Indian boy's only reply was an odd sound halfway between a frustrated growl and a poorly restrained laugh. After a moment's consideration, he said, "Buford, you have frosting on your face."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Where?" Buford asked, although he didn't particularly care./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet pointed to a spot by the corner of his mouth. "Right there," he replied. "It's yellow," he added unnecessarily as Buford wiped the back of his hand across the smudged area./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Is it gone?" he asked, reaching for another unfrosted cookie./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No, you just made it worse," Baljeet told him./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well, unless you want to lick it off for me, it's going to stay there," Buford grumbled, reaching across the table for the green icing. One of the girls glared at him as his hand trailed through the still-wet icing on the cookie she'd just finished./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When he looked back at Baljeet, the other boy was staring at him with wide eyes. Catching Buford's gaze, he coughed, looked down, and returned to his cookie. The bully smirked at the back of Baljeet's head, pleased to have gotten such an entertaining reaction./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"You think that's bad, 'Jeet? /spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"he thought, amused. /spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"I'm just getting started./span/p 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Baljeet sat down hard on the bed and buried his face in his hands. Christmas was in six days, and he was usually as much in the holiday spirit as the rest of his friends by now, but this year was different. Oh, was it ever different. What the _hell_ had Buford been trying to accomplish? If this was some new form of torture he'd devised, Baljeet was ready to admit defeat now just to make him stop.

 _I like girls, I like girls, I like girls,_ he chanted to himself, praying the mantra would be self-fulfilling. But Baljeet had always prided himself on his intelligence, and he knew when something was a lost cause. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened, or, for that matter, when, how, or why it had happened, but a shift had occurred, and now there was no going back.

 _Why Buford?_ Baljeet didn't particularly care if he was bisexual or even gay, although it was a surprise, but he minded very much that the object of his affections was so completely… _awful_. And straight. Baljeet knew for a fact that Buford was straight, as did everyone else who attended Danville High. Buford had a bad-boy reputation – and the looks to go with it – that made him appealing to girls who were feeling particularly rebellious, and Buford, for his part, seemed to have no qualms about enjoying the benefits of his dubious popularity.

Baljeet flopped onto his back, looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars he'd meticulously arranged into constellations when he was ten. This whole situation was stupid beyond belief, not least because Baljeet hadn't planned to date in high school, leaving more time to focus on his studies. Not that he'd ever date Buford even if the bully magically became interested; Baljeet _did_ have a reputation to uphold.

He tried summoning to mind all the horrible pranks Buford had pulled over the years, from painful wedgies and noogies to replacing his shower gel with green dye and stealing his homework. It helped, a little. Baljeet certainly had a hard time imagining any kind of physical intimacy with a boy who had once literally chewed up and eaten Baljeet's math worksheet, bit by bit.

Abruptly, Baljeet wished he'd stayed away from thoughts of physical intimacy altogether, because while his first instinct was to laugh, his second was to form detailed mental pictures of every possible scenario. What would it feel like to kiss a boy? Baljeet had kissed a few girls – well, two, if you wanted to be precise – but that was the limit of his experience with the opposite sex. And, of course, his experience with the _same_ sex was nonexistent, and he hadn't been expecting that to change. Until today.

With a sigh of resignation, Baljeet rolled over and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. He was going to call Ferb and tell him what had happened and then hope to God that Ferb didn't burst out laughing. Baljeet dialed his friend's number with trembling fingers.

"Baljeet, my man. What's cracking?" Ferb asked.

Baljeet drew a deep breath. "Um. If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone else? Anyone at all? Not even Phineas?"

"Promise," said Ferb.

"IthinkImighthaveacrushonBuford," Baljeet blurted.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Good heavens," Ferb breathed.

"Yes, that is exactly how I feel," Baljeet said despondently. "Ferb, what am I supposed to do?

"Telling him is out of the question, I assume," Ferb mused. "Well. You could move to Canada."

Baljeet actually began considering the logistics of such a relocation before his stubbornness kicked in. "I will not move to Canada!" he declared. "Buford von Stomm has been doing his best to make my life miserable since we were in first grade. I will not let him win this time!"

"Atta boy," said Ferb. "Now, if it's all the same to you, I need to go erase my memory of this conversation so I don't have nightmares."

Baljeet hung up on him.

"Good morning, Mrs. Von Stomm," Baljeet greeted the tall, proud-faced woman who answered the door. "May I please speak with Buford?"

"Just a minute," Buford's mother replied. She withdrew around the edge of the door and shouted, "Buford! Wake up! One of your little friends is here to see you." She opened the door and motioned for Baljeet to come inside. "You can wait for him to get his butt out of bed or you can just go up," she told Baljeet, motioning to the stairs.

Baljeet gave her a tremulous smile and planted himself on the couch before his libido could overpower his common sense. He fixed his eyes on the TV, which was tuned to the local news channel, but everything the anchors said simply went in one ear and out the other. After a minute, Mrs. Von Stomm walked through the room and out the front door, carrying her coat and purse. She gave Baljeet a smile that he returned with a halfhearted wave.

When Buford came thundering down the stairs at last, Baljeet noted with relief that he was fully dressed, though not in the clothes he normally wore to school. Next to Buford in his basketball shorts and t-shirt, Baljeet felt hideously overdressed, even though he'd decided to just wear jeans and a button-up shirt.

"What are you doing here, shrimp?" Buford asked as he reached the bottom of the staircase. His voice was still rough from sleep and his hair was flattened on one side where he'd lain on it. "Well?" Buford prompted. "Start talking! I'm not supposed to get up for another four hours. Haven't you ever heard of vacation?"

"You sleep until one in the afternoon?" Baljeet asked incredulously, startled out of his silence.

"Yeah, except when jerks like you wake me up," Buford repeated, pushing past Baljeet and making his way to the kitchen. Baljeet trailed after him and watched as he poured an enormous bowl of toxic-green cereal, which he proceeded to drown in milk.

"You are calling me a jerk?" Baljeet asked, his voice nearly squeaking with anger. "That's just…just classic _you_ , Buford! You are the king of all jerks!"

"Damn straight," Buford acknowledged around a mouthful of food. "It's nice to hear you admit it, though. Now, _what are you doing in my house_?"

Baljeet squared his shoulders. "I have come to tell you that I am not going to allow you to push me around anymore," he announced, his eyes glued to a spot just below Buford's eyes.

The other boy just laughed and took another bite of cereal, crunching with what Baljeet thought was unnecessary vigor. "Whatever, nerd," he said. "We both know you like it."

Now Baljeet was legitimately furious. He'd biked all the way over here to declare his freedom from Buford's years of annoying shenanigans, and Buford _laughed_ at him?

He stomped over to Buford's stool and shoved the bully as hard as he could, shouting "I hate you!"

Caught off-guard, Buford slipped sideways, cereal and milk sloshing from his bowl. He caught himself on the edge of the counter and turned to face Baljeet, eyes dark with anger. Baljeet took an involuntary step backwards, but Buford's hand flashed out and closed around Baljeet's wrist, pulling him close. Buford climbed to his feet at a leisurely pace, spun Baljeet around and put him in a headlock.

"That was a bad idea, 'Jeet," Buford murmured. Buford's free hand traced a warm path along Baljeet's arm, sending a shiver down his spine. The hand moved to trace Baljeet's left clavicle, and the smaller boy shuddered in spite of himself.

"Let go of me," Baljeet demanded, hoping his voice was steadier than his body.

"Not until I'm done with you," Buford replied, and something in his voice made Baljeet's breath come faster. "Tell me, little genius, do you really hate me?"

"Yes!" Baljeet spat, stomping on one of Buford's feet for emphasis.

Buford's hand slid down a few inches, coming to rest over Baljeet's heart. "Do you?" he whispered, his mouth uncomfortably close to Baljeet's ear. "I don't think you do, but I want you to say it."

"Yes," Baljeet repeated, quieter this time. "Stop it, Buford, just let me go!"

"I will, once you admit that you don't actually hate me," Buford said calmly. His hand moved down to rest against Baljeet's ribs and his chest pressed into Baljeet from behind, making him uncomfortably warm. The bully's hand slipped lower still, and Baljeet began to get nervous. Surely Buford wouldn't… No, on second thought, there was nothing Buford wouldn't do in his quest to humiliate Baljeet.

"Fine," the Indian boy said, breaking the tense silence. "I don't hate you. Now let me go."


End file.
